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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 03: John Gregory @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.

Sat 04: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Square, Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £5.00. Xmas party (rescheduled from early December).

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Jazz Action @ The Stockton Weekender. August 7. Part three.

A day of highlights, the following, oh so contrasting set, was, as Ornette Coleman once said, Something Else!!!!
A very rare outing for Spelk is an occasion, an experience and not for the faint-hearted. Messrs. Sharkey, Champion and Tilbrook took to the stage and without discussion, without a safety net and with only a fire extinguisher at hand, let fly. Wow! So powerful, so loud, so intense. Chris Sharkey, an extraordinary guitar player, Andy Champion (the hardest working bloke in Stockton) and drummer Adian Tilbrook tore the place apart. There is nothing left to say except, if they ever get together again, to quote John Zorn...Check 'Em Out!
Two trios followed. Mark Williams with Richard Brown (drums) and yes, you've guessed it, Andy Champion on electric bass. Williams, himself a first rate player, provided the perfect antidote to Spelk. Dazzling fret work, tune after tune including Cow Pat (an homage to Metheny) and Minor Detail were major highlights.
Legohead (great name) is a vehicle for guitarist Lloyd Wright to dazzle (dazzling guitarists were everywhere) in the company of the versatile David Francis (drums) and Jon Proud (five string electric bass). Clocks (perhaps owing a debt to St.Thomas), Avon, Standby and others have become readily identifiable tunes; excellent construction and great hooks. The band will soon record a CD. Upon its release buy it.
The closing set, by now a tradition, featured the one and only Funk Regulators. This year it was a scaled down version - a septet - from the orchestra-like numbers of previous years. Fear not, this remains one funkin' good band. Driven along by Richard Brown's impressive drumming and fronted by brother Steven on guitar and vocals this was Soul with a Capital S.
The Stockton Weekender was an unqualified success. Thanks go to Noel Dennis, Adrian Tilbrook (Jazz Action), Tees Music Alliance and many others for making it all happen.
Russell.
THE END
(Or at least until next year).

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